Today’s architectural design plans for office spaces typically target large, open-air environments where workers share a common workspace. The theory is that the layout enhances teamwork, unity, communication, and productivity, but the plan often backfires. Sharing a common room with multiple voices means noise — and a lot of it. Common noises include people talking, telephones ringing, keyboards clicking, and the HVAC system whirring. These combined sounds raise the office to uncomfortable decibel levels which interfere with employee focus, concentration, and retention of data, causing errors and hurting productivity.
Prolonged exposure to office noise can result in serious health issues. The health effects of noise in the workplace range from high blood pressure to heart disease to hearing loss. Today’s open office environments can be a serious risk to the health and productivity of the company — unless space is designed correctly.
Sound panels are designed for office noise reduction, restoring the room to premium sound quality, and improving the overall productivity of employees. Sound panels have evolved in the past several years and gone through increased innovation. Popular sound panels today are designed to be decorative, durable, portable, class A fire rated, and easy to self-install. They can be custom printed with corporate logos, emblems, photography, artwork, or any digital imagery under the sun. Some can even double as bulletin boards! With this creative potential, you have the opportunity to add a “wow factor” to your workspace while also maximizing functionality.
If the proper panel is selected and installed correctly, up to 80% of the unwelcome echoes can be caught, captured, and converted out of the room. Sound panels are an office noise reduction solution that will restore the room to premium sound quality and produce peak performance for the business. What’s the bottom line? Do not ignore the damaging health effects of noise in the workplace…your office design could be killing your teamwork.
